1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety box assembly and more particularly to an assembly formed of a safety box, of the portable and carrying type, and of a mounting base, the latter being fastened on a supporting surface such as the wall of a room and at a selected location thereon. The assembly further includes a locking arrangement whereby the safety box may be released from the mounting base to be carried about, the base remaining on the supporting wall. The safety box assembly according to the present invention is conceived so that only by unlocking the locking arrangement and removing it from the assembly can the safety box be removed from the mounting base. Also, unless the safety box is unlocked and removed from the mounting base, it is not possible to unfasten the mounting base from the wall and therefore carry the whole assembly from the selected location.
An object of the present invention therefore lies in the provision of an assembly of the above type which can be extremely useful to anyone having to collect money or other valuables by motor vehicles, such as delivery trucks, milk trucks, taxi cabs or the like where important sums of money or other valuables are involved. In such instances, the base member is secured to the body of the vehicle and the safety box locked to it so that it can be removed only by the driver of the vehicle who has the key. With the safety box assembly of the invention, there is no other way to have access to the inside of the box but with the unlocking key nor is there any way to remove the box from its base member or tamper with it so that the valuables in the box are in an absolute safety, at least during the relatively short length of time the driver is away from the vehicle.
Greater safety from theft may be had also if the driver does not carry the key with him, a slot being provided through the box to place valuables therein, the slot being of course too narrow to allow hand access to the inside of the box. Since the above type of vehicles is nearly always in public view, a thief could not successfully hold up the driver since the latter would not have the key on him nor would the thief have sufficient time to dismantle the assembly by force before some police or other reinforcement becomes available.
The safety box assembly may also be extremely useful in public places such as hotels and motels where each room may be provided with a mounting base and a container, the locking arrangement in the form of a rod and lock, as will hereinafter be more fully disclosed, being available only at the hotel or motel desk and returned by the client upon leaving. Since many locking arrangements would be carried in stock, each having a particular locking combination but all being useable on any of the safety box and mounting base combinations, there would be no point for a prospective thief to have a copy made of a particular key since he will not know in which room the particular locking arrangement, to which the copied key fits, is located.
It will also be appreciated from the above comments that safety box assemblies according to the invention may be used with the same success in private and apartment houses, summer cottages, home offices, construction sites for the safe keeping of explosives, etc.
These assemblies could also be rented out by tool or appliance rental companies for the above-noted purpose.
In general, the above object of the invention lies in a safety box assembly for use where valuables are to be collected for a while and then the safety box removed from its base member for transportation to a safer place of storing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A search was made prior to the preparation and filing of the instant application to determine the extent of novelty of the invention. This search has revealed the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
1,105,826 of 1914 PA0 1,624,305 of 1927 PA0 2,465,057 of 1949 PA0 3,659,442 of 1972 PA0 3,715,998 of 1973 PA0 3,757,549 of 1973 PA0 4,051,790 of 1977 PA0 4,058,993 of 1977 PA0 4,120,181 of 1978. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 1,026,649 of 1912 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 2,465,057 of 1949 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,486 of 1971 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,132 of 1973 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,790 of 1977 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,199 of 1978 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,353 of 1980 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,304 of 1981. PA0 (a) a container defining an enclosure for the safekeeping of valuables and having wall edges at one end defining an opening; PA0 (b) a door hinged to said container for closing said opening; PA0 (c) a mounting base having a bottom wall and means for fastening the bottom wall to a supporting surface; PA0 (d) means to removably secure said container on said mounting base over said fastening means whereby to render said fastening means inaccessible, when said container is so secured, said securing means comprising, when said container is secured on the base:
Additionally, the following is a list of prior art U.S. patents cited, in an earlier application now abandoned, as pertinent to the claimed invention, the claims having however been deemed patentable thereover:
However, none of the above patents can truly be considered directly relevant to the instant invention although some do anticipate the broad concept of using safety boxes for individual homes or apartments. Nevertheless, admittedly the provision of a fixed mounting base to which a container for valuables can be secured to prevent theft is known. Thus, such an arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,465,057. In the arrangement of this patent, the safety box can easily be moved between two or more fixed mounting bases and then securely locked to whatever mounting base it is applied to.
It is noticeable however that the known safety box assemblies are quite complicated in construction and require one locking means to secure the safety box to the mounting base and another lock to secure the door to the box.
In order to be of any value, however, a safety box assembly of this nature has to be quite simple not only in operation, being intended for people not normally apt to handle complicated constructions and having little time to spend in studying how a device works, but because such assemblies have to be by nature low in selling price, installation and maintenance costs.
It is consequenlty a main object of the present invention to provide an improved safety box assembly which incorporates the above advantages of ease and use, construction and maintenance costs. The simplicity in construction must also allow the use of sturdy metallic components as is the case in any safety box assemblies.
In accordance with the present invention, these objects are achieved in a safety box assembly which, as herein broadly claimed, comprises:
a first bracket at the end of said door adjacent said mounting base, said first bracket having a door locking wall extending toward said base and located inside said enclosure in closed position of said door; PA1 a second bracket upstanding from said bottom wall of said base and including a front wall closing off a lower part of said opening and disposed in space relationship with said door locking wall; said second bracket further including a container locking wall extending over and above said bottom wall between said door locking wall and said container locking wall; said door locking wall, said container locking wall and said front wall defining a locking area; PA1 a locking rod slid into said locking area; PA1 means on two opposed ones of said container wall edges to hold and releasably lock said locking rod within said locking area, and PA1 releasable interlocking means at the end of said container away from said opening and at the corresponding end of said mounting base to hold said container end on said mounting base;
whereby with said locking rod in said locking area, opening of said door is prevented by abutment of said door locking wall against said locking rod and lifting of said container away from said mounting base is prevented by abutment of said locking rod against said container locking wall and operative engagement of said interlocking means, removal of said locking rod from said locking area freeing said door which can then be opened and freeing said container which can then be lifted from said mounting base.
In a preferred form of the invention, the locking rod holding and the locking means comprises: bearing means on both the container opposed wall edges with one of the wall edges being further provided with a rod aperture leading into the bearing means and consequently in the locking area for the proper insertion of the locking rod, and a key operable locking mechanism provided at one end of the rod and in one of the bearing means, this mechanism being suitable to lock the rod in the locking area.
It is also a constructional advantage that the first and second brackets be respectively integral parts of the door and of the mounting base, the first bracket being formed by the bottom edge of the door by bending it twice at 90.degree.. Similarly, the second bracket is formed by bending the front edge of the bottom wall twice at 90.degree..
A preferable releasable interlocking means comprises: a hook which is formed at the end of the bottom wall away from the container opening and an upturned flange projecting from the end of the container away from the front opening, the upturned flange being receivable within the bottom wall hook to hold the container end on the mounting base.
The door may be hinged to the container for pivotal action about an axis which is perpendicular to the bottom wall of the mounting base. Likewise, it may be hinged to pivot about an axis which is parallel to the mounting base.
Advantageously, a slot is provided through the top wall of the container which gives only limited access thereto suitable for the insertion of valuables but nevertheless of a size suitable to prevent hand access into the container. A handle may be formed around this slot for carrying the container when it is released from the mounting base.
In another preferred embodiment, the bottom wall of the container may be bent up inwardly of the enclosure to stand behind the door locking wall so as to serve as stop therefor, when the door is closed.
Additionally, the container locking wall may be formed with a central downwardly directed ridge intended to bear on and guide the locking rod when the latter is inserted into the locking area.